Shadow of the Thylacine
by Thylacina
Summary: This is my first X-men: Evolution fic, introducing my character Starina aka Thylacina. It’s not absolutely fabulous, but we’ve all gotta start somewhere, right? Chapter 2 rewritten at last!
1. Default Chapter

Summary: This is my first X-men: Evolution fic, introducing my character Starina aka Thylacina. It's not absolutely fabulous, but we've all gotta start somewhere, right? Text between ( ) is either telepathy or memories.

A/N: I accidentally deleted this fic when I meant to take down Chapter 5 for rewriting, in the meantime I've made some changes here and there to the first 4 chapters, I hope X-Men fans will find the story a bit more enjoyable. Reviews greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: The X-men aren't mine, yadda yadda yadda.

Prologue

RRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

BANG!

Starina angrily brought her fist down on the alarm clock, smashing it to bits. She was probably going to get into trouble for it later, but it was a cold Monday morning and Starina did not want to get up for school, not today. She was supposed to hand in her English assignment this afternoon and she hadn't even started on it. Mrs Hawkins was going to skin her alive.

"Starina, you've got ten minutes and we're leaving!" a woman's voice called up the stairs.

Mum and her art exhibitions, Starina thought as she crawled out from under the covers. She could hear the roaring of the electric saw down in the garden shed as she pulled her uniform out from under the bed. Sounded like Dad had finally gotten around to fixing that squeaky floorboard in the kitchen. She looked in the mirror and a girl with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes looked back at her. Starina dressed quickly and hurried downstairs with her shoes slung over her shoulder. She dumped them on the kitchen table as she passed to the fridge; she'd warm up some of the leftover pizza and eat it on the way out.

"Starina Maye, your shoes do not belong on the table," scolded her mother, Kara, as she placed a large painting in a frame against the wall next to her handbag.

"Sorry Mum," Starina sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Mind your mother Starina," her father Ronald said sternly as he walked in through the back door.

A few minutes later Starina was in the front seat of the car on the way to school, trying to think up a good excuse for not doing her assignment. Maybe she could say their German Shepard, Digger, had eaten it. Mrs Hawkins would never believe that. While she was still thinking, Kara pulled up in front of the Carnarvon State High School car park.

"I'll see you after school, honey," Kara said as she kissed her daughter goodbye.

"OK. Good luck at the exhibition," said Starina.

She waved as her mother drove away before heading up to her first class of the day. Science was held in the lab right next to the library. Starina sat up the back as usual, giggling and whispering with her friends, and throwing scrunched up paper at the boys when the teacher wasn't looking. Then there a was double period of Manual Arts in the workshop down near the sports shed. Starina was a totally different person in these lessons. She sat quietly, listening raptly to the teacher's instructions and hardly even breathing. Then after first break was mathematics. In this particular class Starina was a different person again. She doodled in her workbook and drew pictures of her horse, Braveheart, and threw spitballs at the teacher when her back was turned. Sometimes when it was quiet she would break the silence by blowing loud raspberries, which made the whole class erupt with laughter. What made it funnier was that the teacher could never figure that Starina was the culprit (her friends never turned her in because she made boring classes entertaining). After maths was English, which Starina had been dreading.

"Starina, you had since last Tuesday to finish your assignment!" Mrs Hawkins twittered disgustedly. "This is the third time in a month that you've failed to do your homework!"

As a result of her negligence, Starina was given detention and had to stay during second break to write her assignment. She didn't care though. It would give her an excuse to be late for social studies. After social studies was PyzEd (sp?) another of Starina's favourite lessons. Today the class was tuning up for the school sports day that was being held next week, and Starina was determined to break the school long-jump record this year. Her teacher was very fond of saying that Starina had legs like suspension springs, she was such a good jumper. Finally the bell rang for the end of school and Starina snatched up her bag and hurried out the gate. But instead of heading home, she snuck off into the nearby bushland. She had some business to attend to. She climbed up the slope and wandered down into the gully on the other side.

"Tobias? Cyclone?" Starina called softly.

The strangest looking creature imaginable crawled out of a hollow log. It looked like a dog, but its small ears were rounded at the tip and it had about thirteen black stripes (or bands) running down its sandy coloured back and along its thick based tail. This creature was called a Thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian Wolf. Starina smiled as this weird animal walked up to her and put its front paws on her knees.

"Hey there Tobias," Starina said as she knelt down in front of the male thylacine and scratched him under his chin. "How're you going, eh? Pups doing alright?"

She went over to the log and peered inside. Cyclone, the mother thylacine, was curled up around her three pups, Sunny, Midnight and Pip. The pups leapt up at the sight of Starina and jumped into her lap, yipping excitedly.

"Hey you guys," Starina giggled as Sunny nibbled her fingers. "Man, look how big you've gotten! You'll be hunting for yourselves before long."

After quickly checking that all three pups were in a good state of health , Starina headed back over the slope and back to the road. She couldn't stay with them long otherwise someone would come looking for her and the thylacine family would surely be discovered. It was important that no one saw them, otherwise they'd be captured and taken away. After all, thylacines were supposed to have been extinct since 1936.

Starina was just thinking about how much the pups had grown since she'd last seen them when she heard a commotion coming from the road. She could smell smoke. What was going on here?--- she broke into a run, crashing through the undergrowth and ripping her socks. Suddenly her foot caught in something and she tripped, falling flat against the cold concrete that was the footpath leading up to the school. She rolled up painfully and got back to her feet. Something that looked like an oil tanker had smashed into a power pole and flipped, smashing against the hardened tar and spilling its contents everywhere. The driver was sitting on the gutter on the other side of the road with his head in his hands, looking as though he was about to be sick.

"Hey mister! Are you alright?" Starina called. "Hang on, I'm coming! Eeeew!"

She made to step off the kerb when she realised that she was covered in green sludge. The same stuff was on the footpath where she'd tripped and it was all over the road, leaking from the truck. She'd worry about the sludge later, the driver looked like he was going to faint. Starina hurried across the road to the man. He was ghostly white and breathing unevenly.

"Ran--- straight out in front of me---," he muttered distractedly. "Didn't see it--- till it was too late---."

"Take it easy mate, just take some deep breaths," Starina advised gently. "Don't move, I'm going to call for help, okay? Stay here."

Still coated with green slimy stuff, Starina hurried over to the phone box on the corner and dialled 000 (Australian version of 911).

"Triple O emergency, police, fire or ambulance?" asked the operator.

"Fire, quickly please," said Starina, gripping the receiver with trembling fingers.

While she was being put through to the fire department she took a moment to check the accident scene. From what she could tell there were no other victims, the driver appeared unhurt but still in shock, and the power pole was standing at an odd angle. Shoot! If that thing collapsed the wires would ignite that petrol or whatever it was leaking from the truck. If that thing exploded---

"Carnarvon fire department, can I help you?" asked a man on the other end.

"Yes! You've gotta send someone to the high school," Starina said in a rush. "A truck's crashed and it's leaking this stuff everywhere, some kinda chemical or something."

"Alright, we're sending a truck down now," the man on the other end said. "But I need you to stay on the line and tell me what's happening, okay? Can you tell me your name?"

"Starina," she answered, her voice quavering with fear.

"Okay. I'm Andrew. Now I need you to stay calm and tell me what's happening," the man said. "Are you by yourself?"

"No, the truck driver's not far off," said Starina, trying to control her shaking. "I don't think he's hurt but he might be in shock. I made him stay where he was."

"Alright, good girl," said Andrew gently. "Is there anyone else on the scene?"

Starina was about to answer when a loud creaking noise silenced her. She whipped round and the power pole was starting to fall, and the driver was right underneath it!

"Oh crap," Starina gasped as she dropped the phone. "Get outta there! Look out!"

She shot out of the phone booth and across the road through the slimy stuff, grabbed the driver under the arms and heaved him as far away from the grime as she could. Sparks shot into the air as the powerlines snapped like twigs and the pole crashed to the ground. There was a deafening bang and Starina and the driver were flung twenty feet from the road as the slime caught alight and burst into flames. Starina struck her head on something hard and knew no more.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

("I'll see you for dinner Rina, there's just something I gotta pick up.")

(She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, don't be long.")

(She waited for a long time, but he never returned. Then the phone rang. Mum answered it. Starina looked up from the book she was reading. Mum went pale and hung up the phone, then looked at Starina. Starina got up from the couch.)

("Mum what's wrong?")

(Mum's eyes went strangely bright. "It's Danny. There's been an accident.")

(For a moment Starina said nothing. "Is he alright?")

(Mum bit her bottom lip. "I'm afraid not sweetheart.")

(There was a woman crying, and a man staring blankly into space. Danny was hooked up to all sorts of machines. The bleeping from the heart monitor grew weaker.)

("Please don't die Danny. I love you. Please don't die.")

(She squeezed his bandaged hand as the bleeping weakened even more. He was fading before her eyes.)

("Danny, you've gotta stay with me. I can't live without you.")

(The bleeping finally stopped and the monitor went flat. Danny was gone.)

("Danny? Danny wake up," she choked back a sob. "Danny come back. Come back. Please come back. NOOOOOOOOO!!!")

Starina's eyes flew open and she tried to get up, but someone gently held her down.

"Easy Starina, it's alright sweetheart," came a familiar voice. "You're safe now."

"M- Mum?" Starina muttered distractedly, realising her eyes were wet. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Sssh, you're in the hospital darling," Kara whispered soothingly. "You were in an accident but you're going to be alright."

Starina looked over at her right arm and it was heavily bandaged just below her shoulder. She was wearing a hospital gown and was covered in warm blankets. She also noticed that she had one of those things on her finger that was hooked to a heart monitor, which was bleeping steadily.

"What about the driver?" she asked, unconsciously fumbling with something around her neck. "Did he make it?"

"He's doing fine," said Kara with pride in her voice. "You saved his life, sweetheart. Your dad and I are very proud of you."

Starina felt very weak. She let her head loll to the side and she fell asleep. Three days later, the doctors said she could go home. But she still had a lot of recovering to do, so her parents kept her at home. Starina was still groggy from her concussion, so she spent a lot of the time resting. Because both her parents had to work, she was alone with only Digger for company. It was during one of these days that Starina had fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV and she woke with a start. Her whole body was suddenly in agonising pain. She screamed and dug her fingernails into the arm of the couch so that some of the stuffing came out of it. Then, just as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped. Breathing heavily, she staggered into the bathroom and threw up in the sink. God, she felt terrible. Something in that slimy green stuff must have made her sick. She wobbled into the kitchen with the intent of calling her mother when she looked in the mirror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

She screamed and jumped backwards, covering her face. She was covered from head to foot in sandy coloured fur! Her fingernails had gone black and were curved like hooks. Her feet had elongated like a werewolf's. Gasping with horror she uncovered her face and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were still brown, but her hair had grown somewhat longer, darker and thicker. And from under her hair from the sides of her head were large, pointed, black-tipped ears.

"What's happened to me?" Starina said to herself as she ran her hand down her furry face.

She pulled back her lips and discovered she had long canines like a dog's. When she looked down at her feet she jumped with fright when she realised she also had a long, striped tail growing from the end of her spine. It was rather like a kangaroo's but it was very flexible. She swung it from side to side and knocked over a chair with no effort at all. The stripes—they looked like thylacine stripes. She lifted up the back of her shirt and turned to the mirror. About sixteen black stripes ran down her back from her shoulders, just like a thylacine's. Hang on--- if she had fur and markings like a thylacine, did that mean---? She undid her belt and looked at her lower abdomen.

"Eeeek!" she screamed. "Oh my God!"

She had a pouch! She yanked up her jeans again. This had to be some spaced out nightmare. Come on Starry, wake up, she thought to herself, closing her eyes. This is just a bad dream, a very bad dream. You're gonna wake up in a minute and none of this will be real.

"Starina! I'm home!"

Oh cripes, Mum! Starina dashed from the bathroom and up the stairs to her room. She was shaking like a leaf; she couldn't let anyone see her like this! She leaned against the door and covered her eyes, willing her body to change back to normal.

"Starina?" came Kara's voice from the other side of the wall. "I need you to come downstairs honey, I have something for you."

Taking a deep breath Starina uncovered her eyes. Her hands were back to normal! She checked herself over and all the fur had gone. Thank God! It was just a hallucination! Chuckling with relief Starina headed downstairs to see what her mother wanted.

"This is for you darling," Kara said, handing her a crisp white envelope.

"What is it?" asked Starina curiously.

"I don't know, open it and find out," Kara prompted.

Starina sighed and tore the envelope open and a small piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and her eyes widened as she read the words. She collapsed into a chair, her hand over her chest.

"It's a cheque for $4,000!" she gasped. "Mum, where --- who?"

"The company the truck driver works for," said Kara, beaming with pride. "They're so grateful for you saving his life that they decided you deserved something in return. You know what this means, don't you?"

Starina looked up at her mother, her eyes welling with tears. "I can go for the cross-country competition in New York with Braveheart!" she cried and she hugged her mother. "Oh, this is too good to be true!"

Kara laughed and kissed her daughter on the cheek. This was what Starina had always dreamed of; she and Braveheart becoming all-time cross country champions. The competition was to start at the end of the month, so Starina and Braveheart's flight was booked right away. In all the excitement Starina forgot about her short spell as some weird creature. And she didn't remember it again until one day at school, the day she was to leave for New York. The school bullies had ganged up on one of Starina's friends and she went to protect him.

"Pick on someone your own size," she snapped at them, standing in front of her friend.

"Pick on someone your own size!" one of the boys mimicked in a baby-like voice, making the other bullies laugh. "Try and make us, girly!"

"Don't tempt me," Starina growled as she began to lead her friend away.

"Oh yeah? Think you're tough?" asked another one of the boys, grabbing her shoulder and whipping her around. "Come on then, fight me, horsy girl!"

"Yeah, fight us horsy girl!" yelled the others.

Starina hesitated. She didn't want trouble. She tried to turn around and walk away, but the bullies grabbed her again and slammed her against the wall.

"Thought you wanted to fight us, horsy girl," leered one of the boys. "Don't cha wanna fight anymore?"

The other bullies roared with laughter. Starina tried to think. What if she turned back into that monster again? No! As long as she focused on staying human, it wouldn't happen. No one would ever know. But suddenly she was smacked in the face and her focus was broken. She transformed instantly. It wasn't painful this time. The fur grew back through her skin, the claws grew from her fingers and her ears burned slightly as they extended and became pointed. She felt so powerful! She opened her eyes again and knew she was fully transformed. The boys were gaping at her with looks of utter terror on their faces.

"You wanna fight, I'll give you a fight!" she roared in a voice very unlike her own.

She lunged at them, swiping at them with her fish hook claws and slashing their clothes into ribbons. She swung her tail and knocked a boy off his feet. Hey, this was kinda fun! These powers were cool! Grinning viciously she pounced on another boy and knocked him down and snarled in his face, pinning those ears against her head and bearing her fangs.

"Not so nice being picked on, is it?" Starina growled, and she fastened her clawed fingers firmly around the boy's throat. "Do you like being picked on, you little toerag?"

The boy shook his head vigorously. Tears of pain were running down his cheeks and he was gasping with fear.

Starina tightened her grip. "So I can hear you," she hissed.

"N-no!" the boy stammered.

"That's better," said Starina as she let him go. "Now, if I hear that you've been picking on anyone again, I'm gonna know about it and I'm gonna come after you, and I'll melt you into roadkill. Do I make myself clear, toerag?"

"Yes!" the boy cried in desperation.

"Good," growled Starina.

She crawled off him, walking on all fours, and the boy leapt to his feet and ran away as fast as his feet would carry him, screaming hysterically. It took a few seconds before Starina realised what she'd just done. She focused on being human again and she returned to normal. She burst into tears, terrified of herself. She could've killed that kid! She had to get out of here, before she did this again. The plane to New York was leaving tonight. If she could get on the plane with Braveheart the two of them could go to America and hide out somewhere. Yes, that was the thing to do. No one had a hope of finding her there. Breathing hard, she ran out of the school grounds and disappeared down the empty street.

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	2. A Beautiful Stranger

Summary: Cerebro detects a new mutant signature at the site of a plane crash outside New York. Just who is this stranger from places unknown?

PS: I left the 'Clue' scene in for everyone's enjoyment :)

---A Beautiful Stranger---

"Okay, I know who did it," said Kurt excitedly. "I'm telling you, I know who did it!"

"Well, like, hurry up and tell us so we can finish this," said Kitty impatiently.

It was a quiet Saturday night at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, and since they had nothing better to do, the X-Kids were playing a game of Clue. They'd been at it for over an hour and everyone (except Kurt of course) was getting pretty tired of it.

"It was Mrs White in the Ballroom with the Revolver!" said Kurt triumphantly.

"I still say it was Professor Plum in the Kitchen with the Rope," argued Tabitha.

"You're, like, both wrong," said Kitty matter-of-factly. "It was Miss Scarlet in the Dining Room with the Dagger."

"No, it was Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with the Lead Pipe," Jean insisted. "It was Miss Scarlet last time."

"Were you peeking at everyone's cards?" asked Bobby, casting a suspicious glance at Jean.

("No, I was,") came Professor Xavier's voice before Jean could answer. ("It was Reverend Green in the Study with the Wrench.")

"Awww!"

"That's not fair," Kurt pouted. "I was about to win!"

"Yeah right Blue," Tabitha muttered, throwing her cards down.

("I interrupted this game because we have an emergency. Jean, get the team together and to the Blackbird immediately.")

----------------------ten minutes later-----------------------

The team listened to the news story that Xavier had monitored as the Blackbird roared to life and soared though the waterfall and out of the hangar.

"Breaking news tonight, a 747 crash landed in a field twelve miles south east of the New York airport less than an hour ago," the news reporter read. "According to emergency personnel at the scene, there is no explanation for the crash at this time but it is believed to be the result of an engine failure which occurred during flight. Miraculously, no one was killed, or in fact, injured at all. Passengers claim that they were surrounded by a strange blue light which protected them from the impact of the crash and flames from the damaged fuel tank. Police are currently searching for a teenage girl who mysteriously disappeared from the scene of the crash soon after impact. She's described as being around 15 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches tall with blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is encouraged to contact poli---"

Scott, who was piloting, pressed a button on the console and the stereo speakers went silent.

"So the kid the cops are looking for is a mutant?" asked Jean.

"It seems likely," the Professor answered thoughtfully. "According to Cerebro the girl's name is Starina and she's from Australia. We've had detections from that area before but haven't been able to identify them until now. The only trouble we'll have is finding her."

"What kinda powers does she have?" asked Scott, turning his head slightly to listen.

"I'm not sure yet, but if she's frightened she won't be taken so easily," Xavier went on. "From what I can get of her brainwave patterns she's instinctively defensive and can hide herself to great effect. It's important that we find her before the authorities do. I have a feeling that people won't take in her appearance so easily."

A half hour later Scott landed the Blackbird in the woods about a mile away from the crash site. By now it was nearly ten o' clock and it was a moonless night and very dark. The team was supplied with flashlights to make the search somewhat easier.

"These woods go on for miles, we're lookin' for a needle in a haystack," said Rogue grumpily. "We'll be here all night."

"She won't have gone far, not while she doesn't know her way around," growled Logan knowingly, sniffing the air. "About a quarter of a mile that way," he added, pointing directly into the thicker part of the woods.

"You'll need to be careful, the girl's confused and she'll scare easily," the Professor warned. "Storm, if you fly overhead you might spot her from the air and be able to direct us to her. The rest of you can follow Wolverine's lead."

Storm nodded once and was away in a heartbeat. Logan lead the others in the direction he'd indicated while Xavier waited with the jet. The dense woods and thick undergrowth made it difficult to move quietly, if at all. Their uniforms kept getting caught in brambles and tearing.

"Next time we go on a nature hike, remind me to a bring a chainsaw," Kitty grunted as she got stuck for the third time in five minutes. "Or maybe a bulldozer."

"C'mon Kitty, it's not that bad," Kurt said as he helped pull her free. "It could be worse. We could be doing a level 4 in the Danger Room right now."

"Who forgot the insect repellent?" asked Scott, slapping a mosquito on his neck, then he lifted his com-link. "Any sign of her, Storm?"

"Nothing yet, Cyclops," Storm's voice responded.

Logan sniffed the air again. "We're gettin' close," he growled softly, then he noticed some tracks in the dried dirt and bent down to take a look at them. "She was here, just minutes ago. Looks like she heard us comin' and bolted."

"Aw great," Rogue muttered. "We _will_ be here all night now."

"Wait a second," Jean put her hands to her temples. "She's stopped, not far from here. I'll go in first and see if I can talk to her."

"Alright Jean, but remember what the Prof said," Scott warned. "We'll wait here."

Jean nodded and went on ahead, keeping her flashlight to the ground so she could see where she was going. As she walked she noticed a shred of material caught in some brambles and bent to have a look. There was blood on it. The girl must have cut herself as she ran by. That was why she stopped. Jean continued for about another thirty feet before she spotted someone sitting at the base of an old pine tree. The figure was curled up into a little ball and shaking like a leaf. The poor kid must be terrified, Jean thought as she went closer.

"Hi there," she greeted.

The girl leaped up as though someone had brandished a whip at her. "Who are you?" she demanded, keeping to the shadows and backing away. "What do you want?"

"It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you," Jean put her hands up quickly. "I'm a friend, I'm here to help."

"Who are you?" Starina repeated.

"I'm Jean Grey," said Jean, lowering her hands slowly.

"I know you're not alone," Starina warned. "You're here to arrest me, aren't you?"

"No, we're not here to arrest you," said Jean gently. "You're not in trouble. We just want to help. You know my friends are there because you can smell them, can't you?"

"How d'you know that?" asked Starina, coming forward a little but staying in the shadows.

"Because I have a special ability, just like you do," Jean explained. "That's why we're here. We just want to help you understand it, that's all."

"You mean I'm not the only one who's had an accident involving Bilonium oxide?" Starina asked.

Jean wasn't prepared for this. "What're you talking about?"

Starina emerged from the shadows in answer. If Jean had never met Kurt, the sight of the girl would've seemed more like something out of a horror movie. Starina was covered in fur the colour of beach sand, had dog-like ears, elongated clawed feet and a six-foot long striped tail. Jean also noticed that her right arm was bandaged.

"This happened about three weeks ago," Starina explained. "All I know is that it has something to do with a chemical called Bilonium oxide."

Before Jean could answer, she suddenly sensed someone coming, and it wasn't any of the other X-Men. Starina must have sensed it too, because she pricked her ears and sniffed the air frantically.

"Oh no, they followed me here…" she said in a trembling voice.

"Who? Who followed you?" asked Jean.

"Leg it Jean! They'll catch you!" Starina yelled, and she dropped down to all fours and tore off through the scrub.

"Starina, wait!" Jean called.

She heard dogs barking and used her TK to lift herself up into a tree out of harm's way. There was a scrunching of footsteps and three men with Rottweilers now took up the space where she and Starina had just been. The men wore tan uniforms with brown around the hems on the sleeves and collars. The dogs strained on their leads in the direction that Starina had gone and barked more viciously.

"Sir, we've located the girl in the woods, she's headed your way," one of the men spoke into a radio.

Then they let the dogs off their leads and like bloodthirsty war hounds took off after their target.

("Jean, Scott and the others are coming, Storm will help you follow the girl,") Xavier's voice rang through Jean's mind.

As if on cue, there was a blast of red light and one of the men fell to the ground. The other two whipped out pistols and started firing.

"Ambush! Send backup!" one of them shouted into a radio, then Wolverine sprung out of the bushes and sliced the gadget in three.

Jean saw Storm fly overhead and flew up to join her.

"Which way did she go?" Storm asked quickly.

"She went that way, she's headed into a trap and she's got three dogs on her tail," Jean spoke in a rush.

"Then we've got to find her quickly," Storm nodded.

Down on the ground, Starina couldn't run for much longer. Her legs ached and her muscles seized up and stiffened and her feet were cramping. Behind her the dogs pursued relentlessly, Starina could almost feel their hot breath on her neck. She had to keep going or she'd be ripped to shreds. Suddenly she tripped over a tree root and hit the ground so hard it knocked the wind out of her. Her limbs shook as she staggered back up and continued running. By now her chest was hurting so badly it felt like she was having a heart attack.

"Aha! Gotcha!" a man jumped out from behind a tree.

Starina skidded to a halt and turned to run the other way, but the dogs had caught up and now had their hackles raised. Starina turned around again to face the man, panting heavily.

"You've nowhere to go Starina, don't make this any harder for yourself," the man said, coming towards her.

"You won't take me," Starina snarled, raising her own hackles and showing her fangs. She had barely the strength to hold her stance, but if all else failed she wouldn't be taken alive.

"Come along quietly and you won't get hurt," the man responded in a soft, dangerous voice. "You might've escaped us once, but you won't escape again."

Then suddenly there was a blast of wind so powerful that both Starina and the man were knocked over. Thunder rolled overhead and forked lightning flashed menacingly. Then

BAMF!

Something grabbed Starina's arm and

BAMF!

Next thing she knew she was in a clearing surrounded by strange people. She recognised their scent immediately and sprang up, looking around at them all. Then she saw Kurt and screamed.

"AAAARGH! Get away from me!" she shrieked, backing away as fast as she could.

"Starina, it's okay, we're gonna hurt you," Scott put his hands up in alarm.

She kept backing away until she bumped into Logan. She screamed again and tried to jump away, but Logan firmly grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling over backwards as the ground was covered in rocks.

"Don't touch me! Let go!" Starina shrieked at him, struggling for all it was worth.

"Calm down kid, we're here to help," Logan tried.

Starina's reaction was to bite his hand. Logan snarled with pain and released her. She stumbled over a large stone and Scott only just caught her before she hit the ground.

"NO! Get off me!" Starina yelled, trying to free herself.

She gave a powerful swing of her tail and knocked him off his feet, but she was in such a state she had no strength left in her to fight anymore. She staggered back a few steps and promptly fainted. This time Logan caught her.

"Like, what was all that about?" asked Kitty, looking confused. "She took, like, one look at us and totally freaked!"

Just then, Storm and Jean returned, flying overhead and then landing in the clearing.

"Scott, what happened?" Jean asked in alarm when she saw the girl unconscious.

"I dunno, she tried to run and just fainted," Scott explained.

"We've gotta get her back to he Institute, she's in shock," Logan growled loudly.

"Kurt, teleport her to the jet," Scott ordered. "Tell Professor X we're right behind you."

"Aye, aye captain!" Kurt gave a mock salute, took Starina from Logan and was gone with a BAMF.

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That's chapter two rewritten, what'd you guys think? Please R/R and let me know.

PS: Any suggestions or helpful tips would be very much appreciated, thanks all!


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